Wellington Camp

Last week I was in Wellington with the rest of my class. I really enjoyed all of the activities and would love to do it again.

Parliament:
I loved going to visit Parliament. I want to be a lawyer when I grow up, so I found that seeing lawyers in action really interested me. It was also really cool to see inside the beehive and parliament house. I learnt a lot there and would definitely recommend it to any one visiting wellington.

Holocaust Centre:
I found the Holocaust Centre really interesting. After doing report writing about it, I really wanted to learn more. I did learn more. There was even a woman there that had actually been a child during the Holocaust. She told us her story, which I found this sad, but informative. This is definitely a place I would recommend to anyone who wants to know more about the Holocaust.

ONTV:
This had to be one of my favourite parts of Wellington camp. We got to use a mini TV studio especially designed for the purpose of creating your own mini TV show. It was really interesting to see how the news and other talk shows are actually filmed. It was also just really fun to do the acting side of things. I really liked the fact, that we ended up with at least half decent results, and we got to watch the finished product at the end.

Media Lab:
This was another really fun thing. I got to create a 3D world with mountains, rivers, trees, bird flocks etc...
It was cool to see how they create 3D games or movies. I really enjoyed doing this and would strongly recommend it to anyone who is interested in gaming or movies.

Te Papa:
This was really cool. Most of the exhibits were interactive, so it was fun to go around and see what they did. Anyone that visits Wellington has to go here.

Zealandia:
This is a nature reserve. It has lots of animals and plants that are native to New Zealand. We got to touch a Tuatara, then we had a guided tour around the reserve. We saw lots of birds, and it was cool, because we could actually get quite close to them. Not only was it fun, we also learnt quite a bit about wetlands and the different animals that we saw.

National Library:
Here, they had a WWII exhibition. I learnt a lot here, but still had fun. Anyone who wants to know more about this war should definitely go see this exhibition.

Snorkelling:
We did this at the island bay marine reserve. It was so much fun. I saw fish, crabs, anemones and so many more. Although it was cold, I was having to much fun to notice. While I was having fun, I also learnt a lot, so I am definitely going snorkelling again, and I would strongly recommend everyone else to try it as well.

Aquarium:
We went here after snorkelling, as it was in the same place. They had sea horses, an octopus, shark eggs and a lot more things that I had never seen before. It was pretty cool and again we learnt a bit.

Zoo:
Wellington Zoo was pretty fun. Again we got to touch a Tuatara and this other lizard. We saw heaps
of animals and actually learnt quite a lot. My favourite was the chimpanzees, because they were very entertaining and funny.

Pools:
We went to the pools on the Monday. It was more of a fun thing than an educational thing, so I don't really have much to say about it except it was fun, and I think everybody enjoyed it.

Carter Observatory:
This was pretty cool. We learnt about extremophiles. Which are practically tiny little microscopic creatures. There is lots of different types and they all live in different habitats. After we had finished the lesson, we got to look at the exhibits. A lot of them were interactive. After that we got to see the planetarium. It was really cool. We watched a movie about the moon, which was really informative. Overall it was really fun and anyone who loves space should definitely plan a visit.

Cable Car:
I don't think many people had ever been on a cable car before, so it was pretty cool and I think everyone enjoyed it.

Wellington Museum of City and Sea:
This was pretty interesting. We learnt about the Wahine disaster, which I didn't really know much about, so it was really cool to learn about it. I think a lot of other people enjoyed quite a bit as well.

Overall, it was a really great camp. I had never been to Wellington before, so I really enjoyed it. I think that it was a really great experience and I most certainly don't regret going, not even one little bit. I would definitely do it again.

This is the video we made at ONTV 

Holocaust

This week we have started some report writing about the holocaust. After researching this I believe that this is something that should never be forgotten. It is a very important part of the 20th centuries history and a subject that should not be taken lightly. I have read several times while doing my research, that the holocaust is one of the darkest and most terrible times ever recalled. The number of innocent lives that were spent is just horrendous.

Before researching this, I really had very little idea about what the holocaust was. I believe there is a lot of other people that still don't know what it is. I think that everybody should know what those people went through and why they went through it. Below is a brief summary of what the holocaust was.

It evolved slowly between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler decided that Jews could not be counted as Germans. The Nazi party sorted Jews into ghettos, specific parts of cities, often very run down. After a while, they began sending them to concentration camps, a thousand at a time. There they had to do hard, physical labour, a lot of them died of starvation, exhaustion, or disease.  After a while, extermination camps were set up. They were set up for the sole purpose of killing of Jews. By May 1945, approximately six million people had been killed.

The holocaust really is one of the darkest and most terrible times ever recalled in history. Don't let yourself forget what happened.

Portrait Poems

Brooke

Kind, caring, sibling, daughter

Lover of pineapples, animals, moustaches

Who feels strongly towards stopping animal abuse, war, child abuse

Who needs friends, family, love

Who gives kindness, love, happiness

Who fears failure, bugs, embarrassment

Who would like to see peace, laughter, smiles

Resident of Te Awamutu, New Zealand

I am Brooke

Brooke

intelligent, curious, kind, quirky

second born daughter of Jeffrey and Elwyn

likes pineapples, moustaches, animals, rainbows

feels happy, most of the time

afraid of the world ending

would like to see myself becoming a lawyer

I am Brooke

I am Brooke

Daughter of Elwyn

Who needs love, laughter, reeses pieces

Who loves her family, friends, animals

Who sees between the lines, what the worlds future looks like

Who hates ignorance, funerals, coriander

Who fears failure, bugs, disloyalty

Who dreams of success, becoming a lawyer

Who has found poems of sadness

Resident of Te Awamutu

I am Brooke

2015

Hi guys! I hope you had a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. It is 2015 and I am now beginning my last year at Te Awamutu Intermediate School. I am excited to see what this year has in stall for me. I am really looking forward to camp. My class is going to Wellington. I think it will be a really fun experience. This year I really want to get involved in as much as possible. I am doing band again and am really looking forward to the camps that come with that. Last year was a great year, but I am determined to make 2015 even better. I want to learn more, get involved in loads and most of all have heaps of fun.

Popularity

Gorgeous blonde hair falls down past her waist. Piercing, but pretty, ocean blue eyes search a sea of faces, trying to find at least one to mock. Her baby blue dress looks great on her flawless figure, bringing out her matching eye shadow. Soft pink lips twist into a snare as beauty flutters past, flanked by at least a dozen girls. Even though she has her own hundred friends, she still shoots a glare at her rival before flouncing off in the direction of the flashest college in town.  

Popularity, like her name say’s, is the most popular person in school. Everybody likes her, but, what she doesn't know is, they only really like her because she’s rich, and gets whatever she wants.

She’s always flashing her new technology, or wearing her brand new designer clothes. She invites her friends to her mansion, just so they can see her many belongings. She shows off her massive bedroom and walk-in wardrobe, her pure thoroughbred and its expensive tack, the indoor pool complete with diving board and her mother Charms huge kitchen and metre wide fridge. So Popularity has a lot and she just keeps getting more everyday.

Another reason why people like Popularity is the fact that she is good at sport. She does gymnastics, netball, horse riding, swimming and many more. She wins all her individual events and it’s not very often that her team loses either.

People like Popularity, but I really don’t know why. She is a spoilt brat who gets whatever she wants when she wants it. Everybody that hangs around her should open their eyes and see what she really is. Just because she shouts you free ice cream and invites you to her house for a swim in her Olympic size pool, doesn't mean that she’s actually your friend. All she wants to do is show off and show you that she’s better than you.

Popularity turns nice people mean. She pretends that she really likes them, but all she wants to do is prove that she is rich and has everything any girl could ever ask for. Popularity is the blonde girl that isn't sweet.

Jealousy

Jealousy works at the beauty parlor, which is ironic. She is far from beautiful. She has a permanently turned up nose and her frown never goes away. Her eyes look just like her mother’s, bright green and harsh. She has a thick mop of curly brown hair that she wears out, it hardly ever gets brushed. To top it off, she has thousands of freckles all over her face and arms. She wears the same clover green dress and black sandals everyday, and is most certainly not the prettiest girl around.

She is the daughter of Envy and Hatred, which kind of explains the dirty looks she gives to people that are prettier than her. She wants to be just like beautiful, blonde popularity. Popularity goes to the beauty parlor Jealousy works at every day, forcing her to look at her perfect face.

But it’s not just peoples looks that Jealousy envies, it’s everything about them. Their belongings, personalities, even their cars. One of the things that she gets really wound up over is other peoples homes. Everyone seems to have great big estates with mansions on them, that is everyone but her.

She lives in a small cottage in the poorer part of town, though the houses around hers still tower over it. Her curtains are always drawn, so she doesn't have to see everyone elses many belongings. There is barely any paint left on the walls of her home, and the steps that lead up to her tiny verandah are nowhere to be seen. She has beds of weeds almost covering her miniscule property. The lone tree at the back of her house has been stripped bare from lack of sunlight. The inside of her cottage has the same story as the backyard. Unlike the three bedroom homes around her, Jealousy only has one room that has to serve as kitchen, dining, lounge and bedroom. Unless you count the tiny outhouse under the tree and all the necessities, that house is the only thing she’s got.

Jealousy looks at people wishing she had everything they've got. She never counts her blessings, or gives anything to anyone else, which is still selfish even if she has so little. She jumps at the chance to steal things, however small or unmeaningful that something might be. No one likes Jealousy, not even kindness who will usually be anyone's friend, but you really can’t blame them for that.

If you let Jealousy in, she will turn you into something far worse than you could ever imagine. Her horrid ways will rub off on you and you’ll start looking at what other people have instead of focusing on the things that you are lucky enough to own. Jealousy is the horrible person without a single piece of good in her.  

Green

Green is freshness.

It is like mint ice-cream on a hot summers day,

swirling in your stomach,

refreshing your body.

Green is luck,

changing your future for the better,

shaping your life.

Green is calmness,

soothing you in the roughest of times,

like a mother to her crying baby.

Green is honest,

never lying,

never breaking promises,

always true.

Green is safety,

like a blanket in the cold,

never letting anything hurt you.

Green is trust,

so strong nothing can break it.

Green is acceptance,

never leaving anything out,

always including everything.

Green is growth,

new life,

like rose buds sprouting.

Green is generosity,

always giving,

never taking.

It’s the charity that everyone takes for granted.

Green is harmony.

Everything about it blends together,

like the sound of the wind,

and the moo of a cow on a cold spring morning.

Green is optimism,

never believing the worst will happen,

always hoping for the best.

But green is jealousy.

It’s envious of everyone and everything around it,

it’s only major flaw.

Green is gracious,

like grass swaying in the wind.

Green is good.